Despite Patient Satisfaction Ratings, VA Hospitals Are Top Quality

Despite Patient Satisfaction Ratings, VA Hospitals Are Top Quality

Reuters Health reported that a new study from JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that VA Hospitals are among the top in quality, while scoring low in patient satisfaction ratings. Data from 129 Veterans Affairs Hospitals and 4,010 non-VA Hospitals throughout the United States was examined. The JAMA researchers “found the VA had lower rates of six complications tied to quality: pressure ulcers, deaths of surgical patients with serious treatable conditions, care-related lung injuries, clots in the vein in surgical patients, catheter-related bloodstream infections, post-operative bloodstream infections and post-operative surgical wound ruptures.” They also found that the VA Hospitals had “lower mortality rates and fewer cases of repeat hospitalizations than other hospitals.”

However, where they exceeded in quality, they lacked in patient experience. The study found that VA patients were less likely to recommend a VA Hospital to a family or friend than a non-VA Hospital patient.